Town No Longer Rated Most Costly Address

Avon no longer is the most expensive address in the capital region, according to a recent report.

The town's median home sale price, which includes condos, dropped 26 percent last year -- the greatest decrease of any town in the region -- from $242,000 to $178,400.

As a result, Avon's median home sale price was the third highest of the 29 towns in the region, behind Glastonbury and Simsbury. Glastonbury was No. 1.

The report, compiled by the Capitol Region Council of Governments, covered home sales in the region from July 1, 1993, to June 30, 1994. It was completed last month and delivered recently to town officials.

The median home sale price in Simsbury dropped slightly, from $190,850 in 1993 to $185,000 in 1994.

In Glastonbury, the median home sale price rose 9 percent, from $170,000 in 1993 to $186,125 in 1994.

The report included condominiums, single-family, two-family and three-family homes.

The median sale price for the region was $135,000.

Avon still had the highest median sale price -- $233,950 -- for single-family houses in the region. The median sale price for condominiums was $125,000. No sales were recorded for two-family or three-family houses.

Town officials said they were surprised that Avon had lost its No. 1 ranking.

``I just assumed we'd be at the top like we've always been,'' Town Manager Philip K. Schenck Jr. said.

Schenck said he had not studied the report at length, but he suspected the decrease was because of the large number of condo sales in town compared with other towns.

In the year covered by the report, 120 condos sold in Avon. In Simsbury, 39 condos sold. In Glastonbury, 45 condos sold.

``I think if there's any story in that whole thing it is that the condo prices have dropped significantly enough to affect Avon's ranking,'' Schenck said.

Town Assessor Harry DerAsadourian said there could be a number of reasons for the decline. For example, there was a drop in the number of higher-priced homes sold in the year covered by the survey. From July 1, 1993, to June 30, 1994, there were 33 houses that sold between $300,001 and $500,000. The year before there were 57 houses in that price range. There also was a decline in the number of houses that sold for more than $500,000.

There also were fewer houses built on speculation, that is, when a developer builds a house and then sells it, DerAsadourian said.

Instead, more homeowners chose to buy lots and hire builders, and those houses are not included in the report of houses sold.

DerAsadourian said he expected Avon to have the highest median home sale price again next year.